I remember it clearly. I was driving down Grand Ave in Schofield right near the dam when the word came over the radio. The space shuttle Challenger had exploded and killed all seven astronauts aboard 72 seconds after taking off. It occurred on January 28th 1986 25 years and one day after the Apollo One fire that consumed Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee on the pad in Florida. In 1986 we had begun to take space travel for granted. When I was a kid, space launches were big events, things of wonder. By 1986 the big story was, of course, school teacher Christa McAuliffe was going into space. She was selected from 11,000 applicants to take part. Little did she know that selection was leading to her death. The thing was, we didnt pay much attention to the launches by that time. I was in my car, not watching. It was just another routine launch of the shuttle. Until it wasnt. It's kinda weird that I'm talking about an aviation disaster two days in a row but things happen and then we begin to see patterns. Kobe Bryant rode his helicopter on a regular basis and nothing bad happened. So, was he concerned about the fog as he got in? We'll never know. But you can bet, that Christa McAuliffe and the rest of the seven doomed astronauts of Challenger were not thinking about O rings on that morning 34 years ago.
Can you name the other six people on board Challenger? I couldnt. I had to look it up. Francis Scobee, Michael Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair, Judith Resnick, Gregory Jarvis.
And why did it explode…The O ring which acts as a giant washer to keep liquid hydrogen from leaking had been tested under every condition except cold. Why would they test it for cold? The shuttle was launching from Florida. Except on January 28th 1986 a cold snap had sent the thermometer plummeted to 18 degrees. It turned out the O rings only worked down to 40. Unexpected consequences of little things. History can turn on a dime…and we never see it coming when it happens
The “We Are The World” session was held on this date in 1985 to benefit the USA For Africa organization. Quincy said “check your egos at the door”, and remarkably they did.
Actor John Banner died on this date in 1973. He was best known as Sgt Schultz on Hogans Heroes, a character who reminds me of Senate Republicans in their mission to ignore Trumps criminal behavior.
Lost Jazz of the Day
The performance was recorded live at
Tsubo
in
Berkeley, California
on June 25, 1962. The session featured a quintet that included
Wynton Kelly
on
piano
,
Johnny Griffin
on
tenor saxophone
,
Paul Chambers
on
bass
, and
Jimmy Cobb
on
drums
.
Covers Of The Day
(This song was released on this date in 1978)
(Jimi Hendrix played his first concert at London's Savile Theater on this date in 1967
“Always obvious that in addition to the overwhelming evidence that President Trump extorted Ukraine to undermine 2020 election that was already public, more evidence would come out damning the 53 Republican senators helping in the cover-up. Just did not expect this much so fast.”-David Rothschild
“John Bolton has direct evidence of Trump's misconduct. He must testify. In courthouses across America every day, people are confronted with direct evidence. Why should the president be treated any differently? He’s not above the law.”-Kamala Harris
“Innocent people do everything they can to have exculpatory evidence come to light. Guilty people run away from the evidence like cowards because they know the actual facts are incriminating.”-Eugene Gu
JUST IN: Meadows: Republicans that break with Trump on impeachment may face “repercussions”
“Alexa, give me an example of jury tampering.”
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/12219062600455…
“When Biden pushed to fire Ukraine's corrupt prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, he was backed at the time not just by the IMF, EU, and key allies, but also by *Republicans.* Senate Republicans signed a letter supporting it. They supported what they're now attacking him for doing.”-Brian Klaas
“Remember, Biden's job was to fire the prosecutor who REFUSED to prosecute the firm that employed his son. A prosecutor that the EU, the IMF & others wanted fired because he refused to prosecute corruption. Biden was doing what was in the nation's interest, not his son's interest.”-Richard Stengel
“It does not matter what Hunter did. It does not matter how much he was paid, for what, or who his biz partners were. POTUS could have asked his DoJ to request Ukrainian assistance to investigate. He did not. He chose to use an illicit channel that he could profit from directly.”-Molly McKew
“The John Roberts who everyone wants to subpoena John Bolton is the same John Roberts who has been silent as the defendant has threatened the prosecution”-Daniel Uhfelder
“Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade, noting the Lev Parnas recording and the Bolton revelation, says, “It's amazing the forces that seem to be working against the president.”
Sometimes that happens with mobsters. In 1992, it was amazing the forces working against John Gotti.”-Mark Jacob
“Ken Starr urges the Senate to “restore our constitutional and historical traditions” when impeachment was rare and only about truly important matters. You know, like lying about an affair.”-Mark Evanier
“Ken Starr lecturing Congress on the lowering of the standard for impeachment is like Wile E. Coyote lecturing Congress on the safe use of explosives”-Seth Abramson
“I've seen no liberal call him a hero. This sneaky both-sidesing is so pernicious because it consigns everything to cartoonish partisanship. We libs are quite aware that Bolton is both an opportunist ideologue war monger AND has evidence Trump is a criminal AT THE SAME TIME.”-Greg Pinelo
https://twitter.com/kasie/status/12217634564011008…
” As the adult child of an alcoholic, it strikes me how similar the dynamics of the GOPers in the Senate are to the dynamics of an alcoholic family in denial.”-Steve Silberman
“The Trump impeachment trial is the first time in U.S. legal history a man (Sondland) speaking directly and repeatedly to another man (Trump) both in person and on the telephone is referred to as “third-hand information”-Seth Abramson
“We’re going to be hacked on Election Day. The GOP is facilitating & counting on it. But here’s what a savvy person told me: Consider it an extra 3% on the Trump polls& act accordingly. Turnout beats hacking. Turnout beats gerrymandering. Turnout beats voter-suppression.”-Pam Keith
“This is shameful. America shouldn’t have a wealth test for admission. It’s a place where millions of people are descendants of immigrants who came w nothing & made a life.The American Dream isn’t a private club with a cover charge – it’s the possibility of remaking your future.”-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes
https://twitter.com/gregstohr/status/122186193292…
